If anyone from Medlink or anyone interested in medicine does have a blog, please get in touch and we could follow and help one another by sharing ideas!
Medlink was great fun and a really worthwhile experience. I would strongly recommend it. I learnt a lot and got to experience what life is like at a campus university at the same time. I enjoyed the difference from school life - the independence, the lectures, staying up late and sleeping in the halls surronded by new people. With few exceptions the lectures were very interesting even though one of them went on until 1am!
The lecturers were inspiring as they told us their stories of how they got to where they are today. The common message which transpired was that with enough hard work and perseverance you can achieve anything and get to where you want to be!
One lecturer showed us a video of a patient having brain surgery which was fascinating! I could not believe that the patient was conscious. The surgeon by instructing the patient to carry out various muscle movements such as clenching his fist and closing his jaw could identify areas of preserved brain function.
It was moments like this which confirmed for me that medicine is what I want to study.
Sunday 25 December 2011
Friday 16 December 2011
Pre Medlink
The christmas break hasn't truly started yet, my bags are packed and tomorrow I'm off on a 5 day "medicine taster" course called Medlink.
Although tired I'm looking forward to it - the medical side of things and the chance to learn new things but also the chance to experience university life!
I'm hoping to meet other aspiring medics whom I can stay in contact with and discuss views. I'm a little bit nervous about the mock interviews which are part of the course as i've never experienced one before but we'll see how it goes.. at least its only a practice!
If by some coincidence anyone reading this has been/or is going to Medlink I would love to hear from you!
Although tired I'm looking forward to it - the medical side of things and the chance to learn new things but also the chance to experience university life!
I'm hoping to meet other aspiring medics whom I can stay in contact with and discuss views. I'm a little bit nervous about the mock interviews which are part of the course as i've never experienced one before but we'll see how it goes.. at least its only a practice!
If by some coincidence anyone reading this has been/or is going to Medlink I would love to hear from you!
Friday 9 December 2011
How lucky we are to have discovered Insulin!
I recently wrote an article for a school magazine on the discovery and extraction of insulin and was amazed by what i learnt during my research. If you're interested you can learn more for yourself here
A reason for my interest being that a member of my family has Type 1 diabetes and its horrible to think that less than 100 years ago their diagnosis would have been a death sentence! Whereas today they are able to treat their diabetes with insulin produced by genetic engineering in a laboratory (which is almost identical to human insulin) and lead a relatively normal life.
Do you not think that it is simply amazing that thanks to science humans can carry out the functions of an organ? And does it not make you think what the possibilities are for the future?
An indication of the importance of insulin to society today is that the US military list insulin producing pharmaceutical laboratories as buildings of key strategic importance (Reference Wikilinks)
A reason for my interest being that a member of my family has Type 1 diabetes and its horrible to think that less than 100 years ago their diagnosis would have been a death sentence! Whereas today they are able to treat their diabetes with insulin produced by genetic engineering in a laboratory (which is almost identical to human insulin) and lead a relatively normal life.
Do you not think that it is simply amazing that thanks to science humans can carry out the functions of an organ? And does it not make you think what the possibilities are for the future?
An indication of the importance of insulin to society today is that the US military list insulin producing pharmaceutical laboratories as buildings of key strategic importance (Reference Wikilinks)
Monday 28 November 2011
Genetics Lecture
I was lucky enough to attend a very interesting science lecture last week. The most interesting talk in my opinion was the talk on "Genetic Fingerprinting" given by the inventor himself, Sir Alec Jeffreys!
He described his discovery as "luck" however it has proved to be very useful and is now used everyday, all over the world for paternity tests and in criminal investigations.
It was first put to use when it proved (through similarities in DNA) that a British boy was the woman in questions son and not her nephew like the immigration authorities believed and this meant the boy was not wrongly deported back to Ghana.
It was first used in a police forensic test in the 1980s and proved the innocence of a male accused of rape and murder. He'd even made a false confession because he believed there was no way of proving innocence and wanted to avoid publicity. Without this new resource the innocent man would still be serving a sentence in jail today and the real criminal would never have been caught!
If you're interested you can read about three other famous cases he talked about here
His moral/lesson of the lecture was given one piece of good luck you can change the world wether it be a scientific discovery, an invention or anything else!
He described his discovery as "luck" however it has proved to be very useful and is now used everyday, all over the world for paternity tests and in criminal investigations.
It was first put to use when it proved (through similarities in DNA) that a British boy was the woman in questions son and not her nephew like the immigration authorities believed and this meant the boy was not wrongly deported back to Ghana.
It was first used in a police forensic test in the 1980s and proved the innocence of a male accused of rape and murder. He'd even made a false confession because he believed there was no way of proving innocence and wanted to avoid publicity. Without this new resource the innocent man would still be serving a sentence in jail today and the real criminal would never have been caught!
If you're interested you can read about three other famous cases he talked about here
His moral/lesson of the lecture was given one piece of good luck you can change the world wether it be a scientific discovery, an invention or anything else!
Tuesday 22 November 2011
Hospital Volunteer Work
I've just started as a volunteer on the Cardiology ward at Southmead hospital Bristol.
The nurses were very welcoming. Most of the pateints were very elderly and a large number were overweight with diabetes.
There is lots to learn. For example I hadn't realised that the main aim of measuring temperature is to monitor for infection. I hope to learn a little bit about ECGs during my time on the ward.
In addition to my interest in Medicine this vouluntary work will help achieve my gold Duke of Edinburgh award (hopefully).
The nurses were very welcoming. Most of the pateints were very elderly and a large number were overweight with diabetes.
There is lots to learn. For example I hadn't realised that the main aim of measuring temperature is to monitor for infection. I hope to learn a little bit about ECGs during my time on the ward.
In addition to my interest in Medicine this vouluntary work will help achieve my gold Duke of Edinburgh award (hopefully).
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